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Recent
During my time in Golden, I have been heavily involved in civic and community activities. As part of the initial community-wide discussions about sustainability in 2007, I’ve served on the Waste and Recycling Citizens Committee where I knocked on doors and collected feedback on our pay-as-you-throw proposal. I was active on the Energy and Conservation Committee where I helped push for creation of the citizens sustainability board. I served on the Golden Planning Commission until ‘20, was chair from ‘15 to ‘16 and led the charge to have the city hire a housing expert, and helped set goals for affordable housing put in our comprehensive plan.
Recently, I’ve been working as co-chair of the Golden United Housing Task Force. This group of citizens is self organized and advocates for affordable housing issues in town. That varies from suggesting the city hire staff, trying to find funding, encouraging partnering with local housing authority, and advocacy. I was active in the recent Zoning Code Rewrite, where you can find comments/ideas under ID camerdb.
I was also a member of the Golden Investment Forum Task Force where I did all the data analysis for the 400+ surveys about community priorities. I helped edit the final report to city council. I served on the Utility Rates Task Force as a representative of the Golden Planning Commission. We created an equitable water rate plan that shares the costs, the capital investments, and encourages conservation.
The breadth of my civic service has given me the knowledge of the issues and the experience of dealing with the tough problems that will serve me well on council.
Many of you have seen me demonstrate preparedness, bring hard questioning, recommend intelligent improvements to city codes, and introduce suggestions to resolutions to help guide our city’s growth in a smart and commonsense manner.
History
I moved to Colorado in 1996 to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle. After exploring Boulder and Denver, where I played Ultimate Frisbee (I was in the 1997 Nationals’ and Worlds’ at the Master level) I chose Golden because it had the right “vibe.” After having lived in Golden since 1996, I know that I made the right choice.
While mountain biking west of Golden in August of 1998, I met my wife Carol who’s a retired United Airlines pilot. In 2000, we bought a house on East Street. In 2008 , we bought the cottage next door, and turned its yard into the East Street Community Garden.
After a career in engineering (I worked for 19 years at IBM, Lockheed Martin, and others) I received a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Colorado, and in 2001 started a teaching career. I taught physics, chemistry and earth science at both the University of Denver High School and Lakewood High School, retiring in 2017.
My hobbies include reading, gardening, biking, and civic affairs. My book club has been going for over 8 years and I’m proud of our reading list which includes Between the World and Me, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, And the Mountains Echoed, Why Nations Fail.
Don and his wife, Carol, are avid gardeners.